Tacoma artists involved in major art projects, shows in Seattle

Wiseknave Artists Kenji Stoll (top) and Christopher Paul Jordan painting on the SODO Track. The mural project will transform a two-mile length of transit passage into a large scale art gallery.

Tacoma artists Christopher Paul Jordan and Kenji Stoll are painting major murals in Seattle as part of the SODO (south of downtown) Track project. This is an exciting time for the artists, as they work side-by-side with other local, national and international artists to transform the SODO busway, a two-mile stretch of 5th Avenue South. What distinguishes this from other mural projects is that it will provide a continuous line of large-scale, visual art to be experienced in motion. It wil bring art into the daily experience of more than 50,000 people who ride King County Metro and Sound Transit light rail every day. The public art program SODO Track is produced by 4Culture in collaboration with Gage Hamilton and Urban ArtWorks, and in partnership with the SODO BIA and Sound Transit.

Twenty-five artists from around the nation and the world‚ Seattle to London, Tacoma to Tokyo, Portland to Paris, Mexico City and more‚ will be painting side-by-side to add murals to this emergent, free and accessible urban art gallery.
Project Curator Gage Hamilton, known for co-organizing Forest for the Trees — the groundbreaking mural festival in Portland — distinguishes the SODO Track from other mural projects for its continuous line-of-sight experienced in motion. Hamilton conceptually divided this year’s painting on the track into three zones. Figurative paintings will fill the northwest end of the track, shifting to more geometric, abstract work in the middle, with graphic paintings that weave together figurative, abstract and typographic approaches in the south.

Jordan and Tacoma artist Nicholas Nyland are also featured in a show called “Out of Sight,” which is running concurrently with the Seattle Art Fair. Works by 110 artists, including fellow homeys Jordan and Nyland, are featured.
Jordan also recently got the news that he is a recipient of a $25,000 Neddy Award in painting.